how much pp before the hand over?

Phil V wrote in post #4058266
I've said it before, but the most effective and underused post processing trick is simply the delete key.

Amen to that .. 200 quality photos in the hands of a full day coverage couple from maybe 600-700 photos taken during the day is where I'd like to be.

Lower numbers and higher quality is my objective.
Mike

Kai- I use lightroom for pretty much everything unless the photo needs major work. Love it!

Tim- This sounds like what I have been doing so far, I like pp and am very impressed with what a lot of people put on here but tend to prefer a simpler style when it comes to my own photos. Do you doll them up a bit more before putting them in the album or is what you see what you get? (Don't get me wrong here I love what I see on your site I am just curious as to if album pics get special attention).

I will adjust images but I'm not going to spend a bunch of time on 200-300 images.

What I do is create a gallery for each part of the wedding and then I have a separate gallery for "Artist Favorites". These are the ones I prefer and I will spend as much time as I need to work up these 20 or so images. My clients then can decide which images they like and I will then work on them....if that is included in the contract. I will do all the basic conversion of the raw files with tweaking levels, color balance and fix anything obvious on all images before they see them. I'm just not going to do my "artist work" on all the keepers.

As little as possible, but as much as needed.

I take my experience from artistic portraiture background.

First, I backup all files from the CF cards and archive with no intent to return to them. Then, I make my own judgment on deleting the duplicates or imperfect photos - it simplifies the later selection process for all of us. About 30% go. In yet-to-happen case they remember something that I did not present to them as proofs (i.e., among those 30%), I'd go to the archive.

Then, I go through the remaining and rate them. Run automatic color and exposure correction on all of them - they become raw files (this is how I call them for the clients), implying very basic post-processing, prone to imperfections. I have no problems showing those because they have seen my finished works made in the past and know what they may become. I do take one sure photo and apply advanced post-processing, showcasing my manual color correction, retouching, and artistic effects. It serves as a personal example of "before and after".

I then present all the files to the clients, recommend about 50 of them (ranked highest), suitable for an album, show an example of my manual PP'ing on a single photo, and let them select those that they want to have carefully processed. I also suggest identifying 10 all-star photos to which I will apply my best knowledge and skill (samples). Those take 5-10 hours each and such an effort definitely cannot be expected on every photo of hundreds given...

Again, this is taken from my artistic portraiture approach. I know it wouldn't appeal to all customers but then, I don't have to get all the clients out there, either.

I also divide the wedding into sections to make it more managable. I quit deciding which ranking to give pictures. I let my husband do that because I get too emotionally involved with the pics and his taste has a broader appeal. Then I work with those. It streamlines my work flow. Basic pp is included, extra stuff costs by the hour.

colour correction, curves, saturation, any blotches, pimples etc, sharpening - swap the occaisonal face over etc

Thank you for all of the input! The artist favorites folder is a great idea that I may utilize. It is a good way of showing off your skills but still gives them the basic shot in case they aren't thrilled with the heavy pp.

Scott, just curious as to what you think of my new front page pic...better....worse.​...or about the same? Sometimes I think that I like the pics better since I know the whole story of what was happening at the time it was taken. It's difficult to be subjective on some of them!

All the images the bride and groom ever see are fully pp'd.

They have some options - anything in colour I will do black and white, they can ask for selective colouring, but essentially everything is done by the time they see it.

I do this for a few reasons - I see pp as part of my style, and part of what they bride and groom are paying me for. Also, all of my packages come with a DVD of all images set to music, and this is what they will be showing their family and friends while the album is in production, so I want my best foot forward so to speak.

If you cost your pp time into your packages, it really isn't an issue.

Cheers!
Naomi